Animal Rights Activist Faces Felony After Gluing Hand to Trader Joe’s Fridge in Protest

An animal rights activist was charged with felony vandalism Wednesday after supergluing his hand to a refrigerator containing chicken products at a Trader Joe’s store in Pasadena, according to authorities and the activist group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE).

Ani Kandada, a member of DxE, staged the July 2 protest at the grocery chain’s original location at 610 S. South Arroyo Parkway to denounce alleged animal cruelty at farms supplying Trader Joe’s.

Pasadena Fire Department personnel used a solvent to detach Kandada’s hand before police arrested him, city spokesperson Lisa Derderian said.

The protest was part of a broader DxE campaign targeting Trader Joe’s ties to Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry, which the group accuses of operating factory farms with systemic abuse. About 20 activists participated, some standing on checkout lanes and using megaphones to deliver speeches inside the store. Outside, demonstrators displayed a poster of Trader Joe’s president with the phrase “I sell animal cruelty.”

Earlier that day, another DxE activist was arrested for gluing her hand to the front desk at Trader Joe’s headquarters in Monrovia. She was charged with trespassing and released within two hours, the group said.

DxE claims its seven-year investigation into Petaluma Poultry documented birds suffering from disease, injuries, and neglect. The group also cited USDA data showing the company’s slaughterhouse has elevated rates of foodborne pathogens.

Kandada called the felony charge “absurd,” adding, “The refrigerator is perfectly fine, my hand is fine, but the chickens are not.”